We Know
by Crimson stars and Silent stars
Summary: They found River that night, but they also lost Melody. The child was lost. A Short Story from Rory's perspective on the Night of Demons Run.


Rory gripped the hilt of his sword tighter and slashed it violently across the Headless Monk's chest. His enemy crumpled to the ground with an unearthly screech. Panting and pumped full of adrenaline, he cast his eyes around briefly to see the rest of his unlikely comrades battling in a similarly vicious struggle. The lizard woman and her sweet wife stood back to back wielding their katanas with skill. The soldier girl jabbed the butt of her rifle into the stomach of one of her former allies before shooting him in the chest. The angry little Sontaran was busy gleefully mowing down a row of Monks.

Rory suddenly heard the faint rustle of a cloak and faster than he would have thought possible, he spun around locking swords with another hooded villain. The crackle of his opponent's red lightning flared angrily and the charge in the air made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. The monk shoved Rory back with his sword, causing the human to stumble over another fallen body. The cloaked figure raised his weapon above his head and brought it down with immense force. The Centurion managed to raised his broadsword to meet the blow above his head, simultaneously aiming his gun at his adversary's torso and pulling the trigger. The Monk convulsed as the deadly bolt of energy slammed into him. Rory could almost imagine a look of shock within the empty blackness beneath the hood. The Monk fell backwards, his sword clattering to the ground.

At any other time, Rory might have been horrified at this murder. He might have rather died than forsake his oath to aid and heal. He might have been disgusted with himself. But all those feelings and promises were no longer important. Now only one thing mattered.

_I must not let them get to Melody. I must protect her._

This was the only thought that penetrated his mind as he stabbed his sword all the way through another monk that had been struggling with the soldier girl. The blade came out covered with red. Rory noted dully that the blood probably meant this one had been a converted marine, instead of whatever creature the Monk's usually were. He did not feel any guilt over killing the former human. Monk or Marine, they had both been after Melody.

Rory looked over at the soldier girl just in time to see a jolt of energy shoot through the air from one of the monks and hit the girl square in the chest. She seemed to hang, eerily suspended for a moment before collapsing without a sound. Rory let out a sharp shout of anger and aimed his gun at the assailant responsible. He fired, killing the monk instantly. He then turned to his right, aiming at another one across the room and, everything stopped.

A terrible sound ripped through the air, louder than anything else. It was a scream filled with such terror and anguish that it froze Rory's heart. "RORY!" his wife screamed louder than she had ever screamed before. He dropped his sword and gun and tore across the hangar bay faster than he had ever run, crashing through the crates to reach his wife. An overwhelming sense of dread and panic forced his legs to move faster. Rory imagined the worst, his daughter gone and Amy dead, a stab wound on her chest.

The Centurion rounded the last corner to see Amy crouched, exactly where he had left her. At first glance nothing seemed the matter. And then he saw that she was no longer clutching their daughter, but a soaking wet blanket. Rory's mind could not register what had happened, as he stood a foot away from his wife, all he knew was that Melody was gone. Then he saw the glistening white puddles of gooey liquid on the ground, and coating Amy's hands. "No…." he croaked desperately.

Amy looked up at him. She was sobbing uncontrollably. Rory fell to his knees beside his wife, anger and grief starting to take hold of his heart. "No, no, no, no, no…." Amy sobbed, gulping for breath. "Bring her back. Bring her back Rory!" she begged hysterically

Rory was finding it very hard to breathe. He couldn't take his eyes of of the puddle on the ground. She can't be gone! But he knew that she was. "I-I can't." he choked.

"BRING HER BACK!" Amy screamed, not caring that what she asked was not possible. Not caring that Rory was crying too. She launched herself at her husband and started pounding him with her fists. "Bring her back!" she wept, her voice strangled and nearly incoherent in agony. "Bring her back! Bring her back! Bring her back!"

Rory grasped his wife and held her close as her punches grew weaker and weaker. Rory's frame shook violently with his own sobs as he hugged her tighter. "I can't! I can't!" he cried. She collapsed up against him and together they wept. Not noticing or caring that others looked on as they sobbed and gripped each other for comfort. She's gone. Rory cried harder and rawer than he had ever done before, rocking back and forth on the cold metal floor of a distant space station, mourning the daughter that he had never met. And there the bereaved couple stayed for how long, they did not know. Time faded away as their embrace and their loss became all they knew.

His sobs were ripped out of his chest, raking across his throat like fire. Rory had been punched, and shot, and tortured, and stabbed before, but he had never felt a pain like this. She's gone. It penetrated his every being, choking him. Reaching down his throat with long, searching fingers and suffocating him. Slowly shredding him until all he could ever feel was this agony. My daughter is gone.

A sound began to penetrate through Rory's cloud of anguish. It was loud and frantic. Someone was pounding on metal. Rory slowly raised his head from where he had buried it in Amy's shoulder and became immediately aware of the dryness in his mouth and the pain in his throat but he ignored both sensations. Someone was banging on the locked door right next to him. As he gave the disturbance his full attention, he realised his could hear the intruder shouting through the barrier. "Amy!" the person screamed desperately. It was the Doctor. Rory felt a surge of emotion that he could not identify.

Without being entirely aware of what he was doing, and while keeping his gaze fixed on the door, he detached himself slowly from Amy's arms and rose to his feet. Amy looked up at her husband in confusion, the tears still wet on her cheeks. The Centurion did not notice as the lizard women's kind wife approached and gently lifted Amy to her feet, leading her away from the door. She had probably realised that now wasn't the best time for her to see the Doctor.

Rory stood completely still, listening as the Doctor called again and again for his wife. "Melody, she's not real! She's a flesh avatar! AMY!" he cried, and the obvious statement pierced Rory's ears.

Finally the Doctor burst through the door, his eyes darted wildly around. He came to a grinding halt as the bloody scene opened up before him. Rory watched silently as the Time Lord stared at the bodies strewn across the floor with wide, shocked eyes. "Amy…" he whispered one more time. Then he turned and locked eyes with Rory. The Centurion felt a rush of burning anger that he had never felt before as the Doctor stared at him.

"Yeah." he answered, "We know".


End file.
